Powerful quake kills three in north Italy
Rome – Panicked people rushed into the streets when a powerful earthquake shook northern Italy, killing three people and injuring at least 50.
The 5.9-magnitude quake struck about 4am (2pm NZ time) yesterday and was felt throughout the northeast of the peninsula, from the Emilia-romagna region to Venice, with its epicentre at Finale Emilia, 36km north of Bologna. It took place at a depth of 10km and lasted around 20 seconds. Several aftershocks followed.
Earlier, a 4.1-magnitude quake shook the Lombardy region around Milan, 219km northwest of Bologna, and was felt in Modena, Mantua, Ferrara and Rovigo.
Rescue services said the three fatalities were workers on night shifts. One man was killed when the workshop of a polystyrene factory collapsed at Ponte Rodoni di Bondeno, and the two others in a ceramics factory at Sant’ Agostino. Another 50 people were lightly injured.
In Bologna and several other cities, thousands of people woken in the middle of the night by the tremor rushed out onto the streets in panic. Emergency services were inundated with calls and hospitals were evacuated as a precautionary measure. Television footage showed half-collapsed houses and heaps of rubble. Several church steeples and towers also partly collapsed.
The region shaken by the quake is Italy’s industrial heartland but also home to priceless architectural and art treasures. The historic centre of Ferrara is classified as a world heritage site.